How To Start A Clothing Line With No Money

Do you have a dream of being a fashion designer? Perhaps you find it difficult to get clothes that suit your taste, so you decide to create your own clothing brand. From experience I know that starting a clothing line can be a challenging journey from the outset so I have written this article to share how I saved money when I started my first fashion business online.

Starting a Clothing Line With No Money

If you are a creative entrepreneur with a clear vision, launching your own clothing line can be quite rewarding. Even though you might not show your line at a prestigious fashion show at first, you can build an audience online and grow your online sales using these simple steps:

ADVERTISEMENT

1. Have a Solid Business Plan

You need to layout a solid business plan which will state how you intend to achieve the goals of your clothing line. Be realistic in making the plan. It should include:

An executive summary: which is a brief description of the mission statement of the company and its future plans.

Your target audience: Who they are and why they would buy from you.

A description of the company: this gives clients an idea of your kind of clothing line and what makes you stand out from other competitors.

2. Do Your Research

Who are your potential buyers? Who are your likely competitors? Ask around. Go on Instagram check out what other clothing lines are doing and get some knowledge on the clothing industry. Read interviews and articles from top fashion designers. Some free tools to use to spy on your competition in bulk are Combin for Instagram (to search for users of specific brands) and Buzzsumo (to find out which brands are being shared most on social media and the key influencers).

3. Have a Unique Design

You want to hit the ground running. When you launch your clothing brand it has to stand out in order to start making money immediately. If you’ve always had the desire to start a clothing line, you most likely already have a design you would like to make. Make sure to validate your designs with a few people before launching. This could save you a lot of money.

4. Design One Prototype

If you plan on starting a T-shirt business, you can save money by using a service like Printful to design your shirts for free and show your friends or export straight to your website to start getting feedback. For more complex or custom clothing types you can use AliExpress for good quality fabric at really affordable prices.

5. Pay Attention To Your Customers

When you launch you will hear your consumers make suggestions on products they want to see – listen to what they have to say. If you meet their demands this could mean more money for you. It is always best to get their feedback for free as this means you do not have to spend money on market research.

Other Important Elements You Need To Start A Clothing Line

Your business will need a good marketing plan and an online presence. Having a website is an effective way to show potential buyers your designs. It is much cheaper to have a website for displaying your designs than putting an ad in a publication.

Building a website can be scary, especially if you’re not familiar with coding. You have nothing to worry about though, as thousands of new entrepreneurs like you have created a successful business website using WordPress or Shopify.

At Visual Humans, we can build a professional fashion website for you hassle-free with minimal cost. We have been helping individuals start fashion brands for years. Find out more here.

Design Your Clothes Online For Free

As mentioned before there are websites online where you can design your clothing online for free. From T-shirts to hoodies to skirts and sweaters, you can use Printful to design your clothing and export straight to your website. These sites are mostly design-it-yourself websites that give designers the opportunity to explore their creativity. Some of them encourage creative sharing and interaction, while others just include design of visual products for designers.

How To Start A Clothing Line With No Money

Starting a clothing line with no money is possible but just like any business setup, it requires a lot of dedication and hard work. Use online tools like Buzzsumo and Combin to research into your competition and design simple prototypes with Printful to begin with. Social Media is also extremely useful in building your online audience. Once you start building your audience, ask them what products they would like and that could mean less money on market research and more money in sales.